Tinio asks Ombudsman to probe P4.4B in Davao City 1st District flood control contracts

₱4.4 billion in flood control spending across Davao City's 1st District is now before the Office of the Ombudsman. ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, a deputy minority leader in the House, submitted a letter to Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on May 19, 2026 asking the office to investigate 121 DPWH flood control contracts along the Davao and Matina Rivers awarded between 2019 and 2022. Tinio's review red-flagged 80 of the 121 contracts. He cited ₱135 million in projects covering overlapping river sections, ₱115 million in a project funded twice under the 2020 General Appropriations Act and awarded to two different contractors, ₱425 million in projects built at locations other than those authorized, ₱623 million in contracts with no General Appropriations Act authorization, and ₱3.56 billion in contracts that lacked basic specifications such as station numbers and project lengths. Forty-nine of the 80 flagged contracts were congressional insertions sourced from Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte. Tinio said ₱713 million in 10 contracts held by Genesis88 Construction, owned by former Duterte administration adviser Glenn Escandor, remained unfinished years after their completion dates. Paolo Duterte rejected the allegations, calling them an attempt to recycle troll narratives, and said the roads, drainage systems, and bridges continue to serve Davao residents. He cited DPWH records showing ₱49.84 billion in projects completed in his district between 2020 and 2022. The complaint adds to a widening set of flood control referrals before the Ombudsman, which reported 35 to 45 active cases on May 15.